FiFi Awards 2011: the Complete List

The Fifi Awards are the Oscars of perfumery, sort of. They're organised and awarded by the Fragrance Foundation and demand clout in the industry. Here is the complete list for 2011, courtesy of the Fragrance Foundation. I'll let you be the judge of the choices...

Fragrance Hall of Fame
To be nominated for The Fragrance Hall of Fame, Award, a fragrance must be on the market 15 years or more, and supported by marketing strategies, which helped the fragrance achieve awareness and success in 2010.

FRAGRANCE HALL OF FAME WOMEN’S
Issey Miyake L'Eau d'Issey
Beauté Prestige International

FRAGRANCE HALL OF FAME MEN’S
Jean Paul Gaultier 'Le Male'
Beauté Prestige International

CONSUMERS' CHOICE AWARD MEN’S
BATH & BODY WORKS SIGNATURE COLLECTION FOR MEN TWILIGHT WOODS

CONSUMERS' CHOICE AWARD WOMEN’S
BOMBSHELL - VICTORIA’S SECRET

FRAGRANCE SUPERSTAR
Gucci Guilty

FRAGRANCE SALES BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR
At the discretion of the Board of Directors, a retailer can be recognized for having done something out of the ordinary. This year, it was decided to honor a brand, who at retail, achieved record-breaking sales to set a new benchmark:
Mary J. Blige and Carol’s Daughter.

Halle Berry - The Elizabeth Taylor Fragrance Celebrity of the Year Award
This award, presented by the Foundation’s Board of Directors is to honor a celebrity who has embraced and promoted the world of fragrance over a period of time. It celebrates the ongoing success and support given by the celebrity to the industry and therefore attracting consumers to the category.

Fergie - 2011 FiFi® New Fragrance Celebrity of the Year Award
Selected by the Foundation’s Board of Directors, this award recognizes a celebrity whose very first fragrance has enjoyed instant success with the consumer and brought recognition to the fragrance category.

EDITORIAL EXCELLENCE IN FRAGRANCE COVERAGE – WOMEN’S SCENT FEATURE WINNER
ALLURE – POETIC LICENSE, SEPTEMBER 2010

EDITORIAL EXCELLENCE IN FRAGRANCE COVERAGE- MEN’S SCENT FEATURE WINNERS
A TIE!
ELLE MAGAZINE – PICKING UP HIS SCENT, DECEMBER 2010
MARIE CLAIRE MAGAZINE – MAKING SCENTS FOR MEN, OCTOBER 2010

EDITORIAL EXCELLENCE IN FRAGRANCE COVERAGE – WOMEN’S SCENT BITE WINNER
ELLE MAGAZINE – MIX MASTERS, SEPTEMBER 2010

EDITORIAL EXCELLENCE IN FRAGRANCE COVERAGE – BLOG
ELLE.COM – AN EAU OF OUR OWN, OCTOBER 2010

TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR – FRAGRANCE CREATION & FORMULATION
ROBERTET FRAGRANCES – “SEED TO SCENT”

TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR – PACKAGING TECHNOLOGY & DELIVERY SYSTEMS
INTERNATIONAL FLAVORS & FRAGRANCES – “REDKEN RADIANT SEA SPRAY”

TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR –INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
FIRMENICH – osMOZ iPHONE APP

BATH & BODY LINE OF THE YEAR
COCO MADEMOISELLE BATH ESSENTIALS - CHANEL

INTERIOR SCENT COLLECTION OF THE YEAR
JONATHAN ADLER “HAPPY CHIC” – THE MAESA GROUP FOR JONATHAN ADLER

BEST PACKAGING OF THE YEAR - WOMEN’S LUXE
GUCCI GUILTY – P & G PRESTIGE

BEST PACKAGING OF THE YEAR - MEN’S LUXE
MARC JACOBS BANG – COTY PRESTIGE

BEST PACKAGING OF THE YEAR - WOMEN’S BROAD APPEAL
BOMBSHELL – VICTORIA’S SECRET

BEST PACKAGING OF THE YEAR - MEN’S BROAD APPEAL
HERVE LEGER HOMME – AVON PRODUCTS

BEST MEDIA CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR - WOMEN’S
GUCCI GUILTY – P & G PRESTIGE

BEST MEDIA CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR - MEN’S
BLEU DE CHANEL - CHANEL

PERFUME EXTRAORDINAIRE
GIVAUDAN

FRAGRANCE OF THE YEAR - SPECIALTY BRAND – MEN’S
BANANA REPUBLIC/REPUBLIC OF MEN ESSENCE EAU DE TOILETTE – INTER PARFUMS USA

FRAGRANCE OF THE YEAR - SPECIALTY BRAND – WOMEN’S
BOMBSHELL – VICTORIA’S SECRET

FRAGRANCE OF THE YEAR - BROAD APPEAL – MEN’S
HERVE LEGER HOMME – AVON PRODUCTS, INC.

FRAGRANCE OF THE YEAR - BROAD APPEAL – WOMEN’S
HALLE BY HALLE BERRY PURE ORCHID – COTY

FRAGRANCE OF THE YEAR DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER
MY LIFE BY MARY J BLIGE – CAROL’S DAUGHTER

FRAGRANCE OF THE YEAR SPECIALTY LUXE – MEN’S
TOM FORD AZURE LIME – TOM FORD BEAUTY

FRAGRANCE OF THE YEAR SPECIALTY LUXE – WOMEN’S
BALENCIAGA PARIS – COTY PRESTIGE

FRAGRANCE OF THE YEAR - INDIE BRAND
SIX SCENTS PARFUMS: SERIES THREE (UNISEX) – SIX SCENTS PARFUMS

FRAGRANCE OF THE YEAR - MEN’S LUXE
BLEU DE CHANEL – CHANEL

FRAGRANCE OF THE YEAR - WOMEN’S LUXE
GUCCI GUILTY – P &G PRESTIGE

For the first time, two top scorers of The Fragrance Foundation’s Online Certification Exam for Sales Specialists were recognized from the Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 sessions:
Fall 2010 Top Scorer: Amanda Markey, C.F.S.S. Nordstrom, Ross Park, Pennsylvania.
Spring 2011 Top Scorer: Nicole Maki, C.F.S.S. Nordstrom, Mall of America, Bloomington, Minnesota.

Twin Peaks: Musc Ravageur & L de Lolita Lempicka

Tracing kindred spirits in perfumery is occasionally as uncomplicated as finding the common mastermind behind them. In the case of Musc Ravageur and L de Lempicka that one is none other than Maurice Roucel, celebrated perfumer and creator of some of the most delectable orientals and florientals in existence (and the occasional stellar chyprish floral, such as in K de Krizia). Although the fragrances are not 100% interchangeable, as evident in my review below, they bear a keen similarity that would have lovers of one eager to discover the other and those on a budget discovering a smell-alike that isn't a travesty.

In Musc Ravageur the explosive departure of bergamot, tangerine and cinnamon is set against a backdrop of vanilla, musk and amber. No flowers, just a refined skin scent. Yet contrary to name, Musc Ravageur isn't really about musk! Though it is rather "dirty". It's more of a spicy oriental, old-school-style and raw. And the reason I am including it in a section devoted to musks is mainly due to nomenclature and readers' expectation.
If you have been fearing (or loving, like myself) the reputation of Muscs Kublai Khan and Christopher Brosius I Hate Perfume Musk Reinvented, you will be puzzled by this one, recalling as it does the base of such classic orientals as Shalimar or even less classical, like Teatro alla Scala by Krizia.

Smelling Musc Ravageur on skin one cannot but form an opinion towards the latter. Musc Ravageur, just like the big paws of its creator, is more of a naughty & voracious home cat with a furry tongue giving you a bath, rather than a wild tiger in the jungle shredding its prey in pieces. A very sensual amber -rather than musk, compare with Kiehl's Original Musk oil for instance- is hiding in the core of the fragrance. A characteristic citrus-spice top note is there (I detect clove and lavender as well), which recalls the Gallified "oriental" mould, and a silky vanilla-amber dry down which isn't really sweet, but interplaying between warm & cool, almost a bit herbal. The artistry lies in having the amber perform like a Chinese gymnast: all over the place, but with an elasticity that creates the illusion of weightlessness!

The fashion designer with the borrowed names, Lolita Lempicka, came up with a wonderful vanillic scent in L de Lempicka, that has lured even me, who am not crazy about vanilla like -apparently- most of the rest of the female population at this particular moment in perfume history. L is no ordinary childish foody vanilla because it manages to combine an ambery depth with a salty kiss, like skin baked in the Mediterranean sun, under a cloudless azure sky. Featuring immortelle flower, the infamous note in Annick Goutal’s Sables and Christian Dior Eau Noire, it has a weird sense of hot summer images (immortelle is a very usual sight around the Mediterranean coast) despite vanilla’s traditional association with winter and homely smells. A cul de sac manicurist's existence in a crammed, abandonded apartment in the suburbs of some French town during the summer perhaps? More appealing, surely.
In Sables the impression is more of a wearable maple syrup, a very warm hug, a drier beach with no fish like that near a fossilised forest at the island of Lesbos. Sables is like seeing the earth’s history in a long gaze and a moment of eternity becoming yours.
L de Lempicka comparatively is much tamer than the Goutal and for that reason, above all, it will undoubtedly be more popular. It features also orange and cinnamon notes that contribute to the likeness I detect with Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur. However the effect is not as spicy-dense in L de Lempicka, while at the same time L comes off as more calorific and rounder, more ambery. L de Lempicka also lists almond , bergamot, precious woods (sandalwood) , tonka bean (coumarin notes)and solar musks. It comes in Parfum and eau de parfum and my review is based on the latter.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: see more smell-alikes on the Twin Peaks articles link

Photos of Catherine Deneuve,top via MademoiselleB, bottom film still from Roman Polanski's thriller Repulsion

A Royal Celebrity Scent: When the Perfume Business Becomes The Crown

It's not enough that royals are represented by their fragrance choices to the greater perfume appreciating audience, like Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge (and formely known as Kate Middleton) did recently,  skyrocketing sales by a niche perfumery. Now Henrik, prince consort of Denmark, spouse of Margerita of Denmark, 76 and an accomplished sculptor, writer and poet, is going to launch his very own perfume, sold under the -very Spartan- name "H".

According to the palace press release by Lene Belleby: "The prince has choisen the ingredients of his perfume hiself and the fragrance will be exclusively sold at the château de Caïx". Château de Caïx (also, de Cayx), for those who didn't know this information (I was among them, I must admit) is the French soil residence of the royal Danish couple, located at the south-western regions of the country where the prince is also producing fine wine from the local Cahors vineyeards for decades.
The fragrance has been developed by the Danish cosmetics line GOSH (who also produce a lovely, simple musk) and features notes of grapefruit and cedar. H, the royal fragrance of prince Henrik of Denmark, will be sold at the boutique of the château alongside his wine bottles production. A nice memento for those visiting, I should gather!

Best Smelling Inexpensive Fragrances

When it comes to fragrances democratic forces seem to be at work: There is something good to be found at all price points. The smartness lies in finding it amidst prejudices against "cheap" (there's a difference between cheap-smelling and low price, they're not necessarily interchangeable) and against "mass market". Not to mention feeling secure in one's tastes vis-à-vis others and their own preconceptions upon revealing what you're wearing.
After all, almost everyone in the industry is using the same palette of fragrant ingredients and the same perfume authors (perfumers working for major companies), so the real difference lies only in actual concept, indie companies or those using all naturals which naturally (no pun intended) fetch a high cost of raw materials.
So let's concentrate on the smarts: What are the most worthwhile inexpensive fragrances on the market that you won't be embarassed to put on your person? For our purposes nothing costs more than 20 euros on regular retail on this top smelling, cheap thrills list.

Yardley Iris

If you have been investing in Hermes Hiris all these years, run, don't walk, to go try this iris fragrance offered by the traditionally British brand Yardley. In their new look line of soliflores (including Lily of the Valley among them), Iris is a valiant effort at offering a more than decent orchestration of that melancholic, part sensuous flesh, part somber, metallic timbre effect that all good iris fragrances project.For the price, quite impressive!

Yves Rocher Pur Desir de Gardenia
Probably the most realistic budding gardenia in existence (tie with Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia by Lauder) at a fraction of the price. Gardenias are recreations anyway, so the low price only proves how analytic chemistry can serve a perfumista's wet dream. Rendered through the magic of jasmolactones, Pure Desir de Gardenia is a wonderful, magical fragrance. It goes on and off the market, apparently, so grab it when you see it.

Lily Prune Patchouli Chic
The Lily Prune line (a subset of the Ulrik de Varens house) has been created with someone who knows just what hot buttons to push: a great starchy musk, a fabulous pod-like vanilla, a plausible woody that isn't too synthetic, and yes, a great wearable patchouli. Patchouli Chic is a chic patchouli scent indeed, fusing powdery nuances and the light sweetness of vanilla to flank the more exotic shades of the Eastern bush.

Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely
In a sea of Narciso Rodriguez For Her smell-alikes, trying but no cigar for most, this celebrity fragrance in the floral woody musky category is the only truly worth investing contender. And it's not going to break the bank. Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker shimmers with a smiling mien, pretty, light but definitely there, at the cusp between slightly dirty and shower clean. Forget the official "notes" about lavender and appletini that referenced the persona of Carrie in Sex & The City (which made possible for its star to front this fragrance), this is a sweet musk laced with a white floral accord. Abso-fucking-lutely lovely as Mr.Big would say!

Tabac by Maurer &Wirtz
The classic Tabac from 1955 is a reference aromatic fouger for those who have upgraded from their "me too" "chick magnet" fragrance choices. Preferable in the Eau de Cologne concentration (which is just as potent as Eau de Toilette), this is a good barber shop scent, the fusion of old-fashioned talc and laundry day lavender, clean with a whiff of mossy tobacco.
Top notes are aldehydes, lavender, neroli, bergamot and lemon; middle notes are carnation, sandalwood, orris root, jasmine, rose and pine tree needles; base notes are tonka bean, amber, musk, vanilla, oakmoss and tobacco.

Lidl Suddenly Lady Glamour
A very unassuming choice, coming from a German supermarket brand no less at huge markedown, but smell it side by side with Coco Mademoiselle and you just might be hard pressed to discern which smells better. I don't know what this says about Chanel, but it's good news for the pockets of those on a very tight budget not minding a dupe.

Zara Black Eau de Toilette
Zara on the other hand, despite the economical prices for high street fashion that looks as good as designer pret-a-porter is no slouch when it comes to glamourising its product. But the prices for their perfumes are still very good, probably because they follow the axiom of the clothes (covetable designs in affordable prices for chic Europeans). Zara Black smells like a very credible effort to reconciliate Flowerbomb with a softer aspect, rosy-fruitish and sweet with a delicious underlay of patchouli & musk. Zara fragrances are not to be bypassed.

Goeffrey Bean Grey Flannel
Geoffrey Been stroke gold with his Grey Flannel, a proud American classic and an innovative men’s cologne, bringing the shyness of violets into the realm of masculine confidence. Crisp greenery and musk tonalities (plus that seductive coumarin in the bottom) combine to evoke a man in a tailored suit, perfectly groomed, clean-smelling without one iota of modern aquatic “freshness” nevertheless. The man who wears this in cooler weather is the quiet type, a smart businessman or someone who has been opting for it for half his life and wisely knows not to change. If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it, as they say. The only misstep? Perhaps that flannel in question is really purplish green instead of grey. But we can be very forgiving in his case…

Halston by Halston
Iconic American designer of the 1970s Halston launched his eponymous fragrance for women in 1975. A graceful and confident chypre blend for women of the same spirit, Halston fuses minty green accords with melon and peach, seguing into a floral core rife with warm and sensual woods. A little soapy, quite celebral and yet sensuous compared to other sudsy fragrances aimed at germphobes or nuns.

Halston Z-14 (for men)
Mentioning the Halston brand twice should tell you something. Halston Z-14 is a masculine leather fragrance with aromatic accents (artemisia, basil, cypress) and mossy greens which was introduced as far back as 1974; nothing lasts that long on the market without merit! Giving it a sniff you will find out just what that first dedicated, loyal band of men knew all along: It acts on women like catnip does on cats! Boozy, deep and totally sexy, Halston Z14 is to be avoided by the very young, probably, but if you’re a man and not a boy, then, boy, will this be your badge of honor!

Princess Marella Borghese Il Bacio
Launched by the design house of Marcella Borghese in 1993, Il Bacio, meaning The Kiss in Italian, is that particular marvel: a good fruity floral. Fresh and crisp without screechiness nor surupy sweetness, it accents rose, iris and honeysuckle with the fruity armful of plum, melon and passionfruit, all on a base ofmusky amber. It sounds disgusting, I know, but give it a try. It's quite elegant and feminine, rather than juvenile.

What's YOUR favourite perfume steal?

Prada Candy: new fragrance

A new mainstream perfume by Prada is always reason to perk up one's ears. The Prada line, masterminded by perfumer Daniela Andrier is full of elegant, sleek compositions that meld with the wearer's skin; modern, but not out there; restrained but not insipid; in fact some of the best no brainers for people with brains.

The latest seems incongruent going by the name only, being named Prada Candy (Odd decision! Imagine the Google searches!).

But the composition sounds rather promising all the same: elegant musks up top, benzoin resin in the lower range of notes (much like in their best-selling Infusion d'Iris scent) and a caramel drydown which probably is the reference point for the name. I hypothesize it will be meant as a skin scent, much like most in the line-up is (especially the lovely Prada L'Eau Ambrée) and not a tooth-aching gourmand.

The bottle reminds me of a coffee press pot for filtered coffee. Very Bodum!
Prada Candy will hit stores in August 2011.